The invention is directed to a pick-up shoe and motor contact assembly for a toy vehicle. Heretofore, various assemblies of the pick-up shoes and contacts (brushes) of electrically powered motor driven toy vehicles have been proposed. Such assemblies entail various designs for the electrical connection and mechanical mounting of the pick-up shoes and brushes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,661 for "Miniature Vehicle With Magnetic Enhancement of Traction" to Robert B. Bernhard discloses an assembly wherein the pick-up shoe is hinged on a spring clip wrapped around a cylinder. The cylinder houses a spring-urged motor brush. A coil spring contacts the spring clip (underside) and presses the pick-up shoe against the track rail. The coil spring conducts electricity from the rail to the clip, but separate springs are required for the motor brush and the pick-up shoe.
Another assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,917 for "Electrical Motor Operated Toy Vehicle" to Joseph E. Giammarino et al. The assembly includes a pick-up shoe, pick-up holder, brush spring (leaf spring) and motor brush. A coil spring presses the pick-up shoe against the track rail but does not contact the brush spring or the motor brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,292 for "Steering and Current Pickup Means for Miniature Racing Car" to Eugene W. Fileger discloses an assembly wherein the pick-up shoes are located on a rotatable platform used for steering the toy vehicle. A conductive central cylinder is located on the front platform. A leaf spring biases the pick-up shoe into contact with the track and contacts a base contact provided with a brush spring which contacts the commutator segments of the motor. The brush spring is not spring-urged against the commutator segment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,340 for "System for Operating Miniature Vehicles" to Gordon A. Barlow et al discloses another type of assembly wherein a spring biased pick-up shoe is held by a bracket riveted to the base of the toy vehicle. The bracket includes a flanged portion which carries the motor brush.
The foregoing types of assemblies can become rather intricate, the proliferation of components and their relative placement increasing the costs of manufacture.
An advantage of the present invention is that the pick-up shoe and motor contact assembly comprises relatively few parts, reducing the cost of manufacture without adversely affecting reliability.
Other advantages appear here and after.